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Davey set to manage Nats for one more year

Davey set to manage Nats for one more year

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NL MOY candidate: Johnson 0:42

Nationals manager Davey Johnson led his team to the best record in baseball

By Bill Ladson
/
MLB.com |

WASHINGTON -- The Nationals made it official on Saturday, announcing that Davey Johnson will manage the team in 2013. Following the conclusion of the season, Johnson plans to call it a career as a manager and become a team consultant in 2014.

Johnson has had a great managerial career, going 1,286-995 in 16 big league seasons. He guided the Mets to their last World Series championship in 1986 and led the Reds, Orioles and Nationals to division titles.

Johnson is the No. 1 reason the Nationals won their first National League East title in 2012. He instilled confidence in his players, and it affected their attitude. Ian Desmond, for example, had the best year of his career. It was Johnson who put in a new hitting philosophy: Stop going to the opposite field all the time and hit the ball where it is pitched.

Johnson registered his seventh 90-win campaign and joined Billy Martin as the only managers to guide four different teams to the postseason.

Johnson was recently named The Sporting News' NL Manager of the Year and is a finalist for the NL Manager of The Year Award, as voted on by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.

Johnson said on Wednesday that he had unfinished business after watching the Nationals lose to the Cardinals in the NL Division Series. He wants to win the World Series in 2013.

"I love managing this ballclub in this town, and for that, I owe a debt of gratitude to the Lerner Family and [general manager] Mike Rizzo," Johnson said in a statement. "As everyone knows, we have some unfinished business to tend to in '13. I have a feeling this upcoming season will be filled with many memorable moments."